Reimagine the Future of Cities Through Living Infrastructure!
Calling Architects, Landscape Architects, Urban Designers & Visionary Designers
What if botanical gardens were no longer isolated destinations—but became the living infrastructure of our cities?
Botanical Turn challenges you to rethink the relationship between plants, people, and the built environment. Design a visionary proposal that transforms botanical gardens into connected urban systems capable of addressing climate resilience, biodiversity loss, and healthier public spaces.
Why Participate?
- International Design Competition
- €5,000 Prize Pool
- Free Registration (EU-funded)
- Global Exposure through Non Architecture and the Naturescapes Project
Your Design Challenge
Select one city:
- Lisbon, Portugal
- Cagliari, Italy
- Lima, Peru
Develop one concept expressed across three interconnected scales:
• Networked-City Vision – A city-wide botanical strategy
• The Node – A transformative urban intervention
• Tiny Botanical Garden – A compact architectural prototype communicating botanical knowledge
Together, these scales should form one coherent living infrastructure that reconnects cities with nature.
Design Beyond Green Spaces
This competition isn't about designing another park.
It's about creating:
- Nature-based urban systems
- Climate-adaptive public spaces
- Biodiversity networks
- New experiences between people and plants
Innovative architectural thinking that reshapes the future of cities.
Important Dates
Registration Opens:18 May 2026
Submission Deadline: 18 September 2026
Are You Ready to Shape the Botanical Turn?
Bring together architecture, ecology, landscape, technology, culture, and imagination to create a new model for urban life.
Design the city as a living ecosystem.
Join Botanical Turn 2026 and let your ideas grow beyond the garden.